The 10 best freelance character designers for hire in 2018

A story isn’t really a story without the colorful characters that make it up. Whether you’re working on a creative project and need to bring your tale to life, or you’re a business looking for a mascot to represent your company, character design can help you bring your story to life.

A professional and creative character designer brings a unique perspective and can add something special to your projects.

How to get the best character design
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A character’s look tells you a lot about who they are and what they (and your brand) represent. In order help you get that look exactly right, 99designs offers two ways of getting your character designed.

Start a character design contest

Want multiple designers from around the world to show you how they visualize your character? A design contest will give you that! We’ll help you write a brief, then post it for thousands of designers to see. Designers will send you ideas, you give feedback to perfect those ideas and you pick your favorite character as the winner.

Work directly with a freelance character designer

Sometimes, you have a vision in your head and the best way to get it out is to work with a single designer that has the right style. You agree on a price and collaborate to get it exactly right. If this is what you’re looking for, read on!

How did we choose these as the top character designers?
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Quality

99designs categorizes the designers on our marketplace in terms of their experience: Entry level, Mid level and Top level. These design levels are assigned by a portfolio review from our in-house design experts.

In order to pick the best of the best, we also consider the following:

Experience with Character Design

Not every graphic designer has the skills required to be a great character designer—it really is a specialty. The top character designers on 99designs have successfully completed many related projects, effectively earning their chops.

Professionalism

The freelance character designers on this list of the very best didn’t make it here by chance—they had to demonstrate a history of professionalism in their dealings with clients, successfully completing many different projects.

What to think about when hiring a character designer
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Before you default to the first character designer on our list of the very best, consider:

Asking about the designer’s process. Do they ask thoughtful questions about your story and desired character design? Do they take the time to get to know your brand? Having a solid understanding of what you’re looking for, and the brand traits you want reflected in your character design, are essential for achieving a design you can both be proud of.

Checking out portfolios for style. Skill and style are two very different things to consider when looking for a freelance character designer. A candidate may have a lot of advanced skills but it’s possible that their resulting character designs aren’t compatible with your style. Because of this, you’ll want to look through past portfolio pieces to get an idea of who’s the best fit for your project.

Are you ready to hire an amazing freelance character designer?
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A character designer can help bring your story to life: whether fictional or to aid in company marketing efforts. Don’t see your perfect match on this list? Search our entire platform for the best character to come up with your next design.

Want more characters?

If you don’t see your perfect match here never fear! We have thousands of professional character designers to choose from.